DA opposes appointment of Monareng to chair ad-hoc Pikoli committee

The Democratic Alliance (DA) strongly condemns the appointment of ANC MP, Oupa Monareng, to chair the joint ad hoc parliamentary committee reviewing President Motlanthe's dismissal of Vusi Pikoli.

The committee tasked with reviewing a matter of such manifest importance needs to be guided by a parliamentarian whose credibility is beyond reproach. Given this, we deem it wholly inappropriate that Mr Monareng - who was convicted of bribing a police officer in 1996 - has been appointed to the position of chairperson.

During this morning's session, in which Mr Monareng was appointed, the DA strongly objected to his appointment, and was supported by other opposition parties. The ANC regrettably used its majority on the committee to push through the nomination.

Given that the appearance of political meddling lies at the heart of the issue that the committee is tasked to review, the DA believes that the appointment of an opposition party MP to chair the committee would have been the most appropriate decision under the circumstances. In the absence of this, we believe that an ANC MP without dubious credentials would have been warranted.

We hope this is not a sign of things to come. This committee cannot simply be a rubber stamp for the President's decision. Advocate Pikoli is a man of integrity, with a long history of government service, and we will not allow the ANC to steamroll an obviously politically-motivated decision.

Furthermore, in order to protect the independence of our judiciary, and the doctrine of the separation of powers, it is essential that the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) be able to act without fear or favour in the discharge of his duties.

The DA therefore has no intention of letting the ANC make amendments to the National Prosecuting Authority Act that would in any way weaken the independence of the NPA and/or the role of the NDPP.

The DA does, however, believe that certain amendments to the NPA Act are warranted, in order to strengthen the constitutionally-entrenched principle of the separation of powers. We advocate the establishment of a body similar to the Judicial Service Commission to oversee the appointment of National Directors in future. This, we hope, would help to resolve the present anomalous situation in which the National Director is a political appointee, appointed purely at the behest of the President.

As such, we will in due course submit a Private Members Bill which would make the necessary alterations to the existing NPA Act.

Statement issued by Len Joubert, MP, Democratic Alliance spokesperson on constitutional development, January 14 2009